It hasn't been a good running week for me. My iliotibial band (that's the band of connective tissue that runs along the outside of the thigh) has been very inflamed. I've felt tired. My running has been slower. My worst run was on Thursday, when I got on a treadmill in our hospital's cardiac rehab center in the afternoon, and even at 5.3 miles per hour, I felt completely wiped. Maybe it's because it was so warm in the room, but I've just felt so discouraged this week.
With the LA Marathon only 8 weeks away, I'm worried that I'm not getting in the miles that I need. And I'm afraid of any injuries that could sabotage my running the marathon.
So, this morning when my alarm went off at 5:15 am, I was not thrilled at all to roll out of bed and run an hour and a half on my apartment's treadmill. I'd rather run outside with the LA Leggers, but since I'm on call, I can't be that far away from the hospital.
Today ended up being my best run in the past two weeks. I did a walk/run workout, run for 9 minutes, walk for 1 minute. It averaged out to a 10:33/mile pace, which felt good, and I finished eight and a half miles in an hour and a half. My iliotibial band (ITB) only hurt a little bit.
This is a foam roller. It has been the savior for my ITB woes. By rolling on it with body weight, it helps dissipate scar tissue, and makes running much easier.
I'm very grateful for today's run. Had it not been so good, I really would have been discouraged.
6 comments:
Yay! It's so nice to have a good run after a couple of frustrating ones.
Keep it up Heather. Only 8 weeks to go before your big race! Don't get discouraged. There are ups and downs, and you just gotta keep fighting your way through the downs.
Also, how do you use that roller? I've seen one like that in the running store and am interested now that I see you use it. Does it help with sore feet? That always seems to be my biggest running pain.
I'm sure you've seen this, but it made me think of you:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/health/nutrition/03Best.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin
I have the same problem with my left iliotibial band. I always have a burning sensation at rest ONLY in the mid L. iliotibial. However, I am completely asymptomatic during run or a basketball gam. Let me know if u have any advise.
Sorry to hear about your run in Thursday and glad to hear about your run this morning. I am also glad to hear that you use the hospital gym. These rehab people should put more fans in the gym! Probably t hey have some portable fans on the floor, look for one next time.
Well I'm impressed that you still manage to get up & train so early in the morning, even when you're not 100% excited about your workouts. That's great that you had a breakthrough run today!
When I start increasing my mileage, I'm going to try using a foam roller - everyone who uses them just raves about their effectiveness. Thanks for sharing your own experience with it.
do you know where to buy that foam roller? I'm looking for one to roll my IT band on it as well.
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